Monday, November 16, 2009

a bit of blame...

Before I hand out the first points of this latest round, I've got a quick question--has anyone else been having trouble with their Google Reader lately??? It's been driving me crazy! It will show me that there are updates, but won't actually let me see them or let me click over to the blog. If I shut down Firefox and restart it will let me read one, maybe two, blogs before it starts acting up again. Sorry to bug you all with my computer-ignorance, but the whole process of constantly having to restart my browser is taking up way too much of my severely limited blog reading time...and that is making me very sad, as I haven't had time to catch up with most people for such a long time as it is.

I'd actually like to spend these few minutes blog reading instead of posting, but as it is my goal to get our bedroom, the boys' bedroom, and Annie's bedroom super-cleaned this week so I can start Christmas decorating, I need to pass out the blame for these books so I can put them away and not have them sitting here on the desk.

Okay, here's the books that have entered my home during the last few weeks:

*The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. No blame here. I got it from PaperbackSwap because Annie and I are going to be reading as part of our history through literature unit.

*The Wild Things by Dave Eggers. Now despite the fact that this was a special, out-of-blue gift from my dear, wonderful friend Chris, I'm still going to saddle him with a point. Sorry, Chris! :) But it immediately went to the top tier wish list when you started telling me about how special this book was. So, had he not so very sweetly bought it for me, I would have bought it myself.

*The Cactus Eaters by Dan White. Another point I feel sort of bad shouldering a friend with, as I won it from her. Heehee--Megan, I'm sorry, but really I don't feel all that bad. ;) This is because I've had this book on my wish list ever since I read her review months and months ago.

*The Professor's Daughter by Joann Sfar & Emmanuel Guibert. Point for Amanda. I immediately went to our library's website and requested it, because Amanda's review left me so intrigued.

*Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer. Luckily, I have a husband who likes to spoil me. He ordered this for me, after I heard an interview with Foer on NPR. I obviously wasn't very good (not that I tried to be ;) ) at hiding the fact that I desperately wanted this book. Guess a book buying ban isn't such a hard thing to handle when you've got a husband who breaks it for you. Anyway, point for NPR.

OMG. Can you believe it?!! No points for Nymeth!!! Or Eva!!! Something is obviously afoul in the universe...

*****
Oh, and one more thing I wanted to mention. I've given up on this year's reading challenges. I just couldn't even keep up with keeping track of what I'd read for what. Yeah, I'd joined far too many challenges, huh?
I am going to start over again next year. And be far more selective in what I join...so that I hopefully have a better chance of completing them. And that I definitely have a better chance of keeping track of them. ;)

Good for you giving up on your challenges. I am seriously considering doing the same on quite a few of mine. I shall see how I go. I know come December my time will be even more limited, as I will be scrapping every day for my Christmas journal.

I haven't been having problems with google reader today, but I've had those same problems in the past and it drives me nuts!!!

I can't wait until you get around to The Wild Things. It's such an amazing book. Kelly and I should have our reviews of it up tomorrow. I could read that book all over again right now. I want Eating Animals so bad!! That sounds like such a great book :) Very nice of Rich to do an anti-ban for you ;) And the only thing I have to say about The Great Gatsby is Blech! I hated that book :p

I've just about given up on my challenges too :p It seems like the two of us do this at the end of every year, huh? lol

Weren't you going to be very selective about your challenges THIS year, Debi? Do we need to schedule an intervention for whenever in 2010 you sign up for, what, your fifth challenge, your tenth? Or you could do what I do about major purchases ... wait two weeks and see if you still want to buy it/want to join it.

My Google Reader has been fine, as far as I can tell... don't remember having any trouble lately with it. sorry you're having trouble, but don't stress about it :)

I am very selective on challenges. I joined ONE last year (Annie's) and two this year (Annie's and Debi's chick-lit one) and I'm still probably not going to complete either one. I'll come very.close... probably within one book of each, but I'm not pushing myself to finish. I decided quite a while back that I'm just too much of a moody reader to be pinned down :)